Wednesday, December 2, 2009

ted gets his way...

On the one-year anniversary of his passing, Ted Rogers is still making a name for himself.

Rogers Communications honoured its founder today by officially dedicating its new downtown Toronto broadcast centre to the founder of the communications company, and later in the morning a section of Jarvis Street beside Rogers' head office in Toronto was renamed Ted Rogers Way.

At the unveiling of the new street sign, Toronto councillor Kyle Rae called Rogers a "legend in business and a legend in philanthropy."

Long-time Ted Rogers friend and colleague, and now vice-chairman of the company, Phil Lind, joked it was appropriate that rather than call it Ted Rogers Boulevard or Ted Rogers Avenue, it was called Ted Rogers Way.

After working with Rogers for 40 years, Lind said he learned it was always about Ted Rogers' way. That was fine, he said, because it was "never, never boring."

Rogers' widow Loretta also thanked the crowd gathered at the intersection of Jarvis and Mount Pleasant Boulevard, before joining Rae and Lind to unveil the new street sign.

"In many ways Ted was larger than life, so today's events add to this legacy," she said.

"I'm sure he is pleased, and I know we in the Rogers family are very pleased."

The dedication of the broadcast centre off the busy Dundas Sqaure took place live on Citytv's Breakfast Television, with Tony Viner, president and CEO, Rogers Media Inc. and Leslie Sole, CEO, Rogers Media Television, sharing ribbon-cutting duties with Loretta Rogers.

"Housing two iconic Canadian television brands, OMNI Television and Citytv, in one landmark broadcast facility fulfills a commitment Ted Rogers made when he acquired Citytv," said Sole. "He had always envisioned a vibrant, high-profile location that would become a part of the city of Toronto and the GTA."